Dylan Raiola Benched Despite Dante Moore Injury in New Rumors Ahead of Oregon vs. UCLA

Oregon quarterback Dylan Raiola is reportedly at risk of losing his spot as Dante Moore's injury replacement.

CBS Sports' Chris Hummer and Matt Zenitz reported Friday the Ducks are "trending toward" starting third-stringer Brock Thomas over Raiola against Nebraska this Saturday.

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Moore has been ruled out for Sunday after suffering a head injury in a Week 4 matchup against USC.

After a Week 5 bye, Raiola made a Week 6 start in Moore's absence but was benched for Thomas in the fourth quarter of last Saturday's loss to UCLA.

Raiola and Thomas were taking reps at practice this week alongside Akili Smith Jr., according to On3's Pete Nakos . Ducks head coach Dan Lanning told reporters earlier this week Smith was "absolutely" factoring into the quarterback competition.

When asked if Wednesday if he was considering playing multiple quarterbacks against Nebraska, Lanning said, "I believe in doing whatever it takes to win... all things are on the table."

Raiola went 6-for-19 with 43 passing yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions through three quarters last Saturday.

That marked a disappointing follow-up to his performance in relief of Moore in Week 5, during which he went 19-for-25 with two touchdowns and no picks to close out a win at USC.

"I think last week we were able to get to our first decision quite a bit. There were some times that [Raiola] was able to evade the pass rush and create successful plays," Lanning said after the loss to UCLA. "We weren't able to create that today."

Thomas came in to start the fourth against UCLA. He fumbled on his first drive of the game and settled for a field goal on his next possession before wideout Evan Stewart turned a short pass into a 44-yard touchdown to get the Ducks within two points of tying the game.

The Ducks got halfway down the field on the game's final drive before conceding the 17-15 loss. Thomas finished the fourth quarter having gone 11-for-15 with 156 yards and one touchdown.

Lanning said shortly after the loss it would be "worth evaluating" whether Thomas should be moved above Raiola in the depth chart.

Thomas committed to Oregon as a three-star prospect in 2023 and appeared in seven games for the Ducks as a redshirt sophomore last season. Smith is a former four-star recruit who did not appear in a game as a true freshman last season.

Raiola, who holds a projected On3 NIL valuation of $500,000, started for two seasons at Nebraska before transferring to Oregon to back up Moore this offseason. He will now wait to see if he gets any playing time against his former Cornhuskers teammates when Saturday's game kicks off at 1 p.m. ET in Eugene.